Belarusian Finance Ministry to come up with measures to minimize tax maneuver consequences

18.12.2018

MINSK, 18 December (BelTA) – The Belarusian Finance Ministry will work out measures to minimize the consequences the Belarusian economy may experience due to the new Russian oil industry taxation scheme, BelTA learned from Belarusian Deputy Finance Minister Dmitry Kiyko on 18 December.

The official said: “We should take into account this [tax maneuver] and take measures to minimize consequences.”

The deputy finance minister reminded that the central state budget for the year 2019 had been compiled using a conservative scenario and takes into account losses caused by the tax maneuver. The next year’s export customs duties also take into account the tax maneuver.

Apart from that, excise duties on oil products will be reduced by 25% as from 2019 in order to allow Belarusian oil refineries to adapt to the new conditions.

Asked to clarify details of past negotiations with the Russian Finance Ministry, Dmitry Kiyko explained that two possible compensation variants had been discussed: compensation in oil prices or a money transfer between the state budgets. “We didn’t emphatically oppose the inter-budget transfer. We just tried to discuss all the possible options and choose the most effective and acceptable one,” he specified.

BelTA reported earlier that due to the new scheme of taxation in the Russian oil industry Belarus may lose over $300 million in 2019 and a total of about $10.8 billion by 2024.